Slow-cooker Maple-Butter Butternut Squash

Served with corn and meatless meatballs

It is officially fall. And for me, that means winter squash: all sorts of them. I have not really worked much with the different types of winter squash in the past; I primarily stuck to what I knew, like spaghetti squash and something that vaguely resembled the squash that I enjoyed growing up in the Philippines (They say it's Pumpkin, but I don't think so). I AM excited this season to try out different varieties.

That said, one of my favorite squash dishes to prepare is a variation of “Maple-Butter Acorn Squash, Slow Cooked” from Kate Heyhoe’s Cooking Green book. I bought this book a year ago and have been trying to incorporate practices from this book in my cooking routine.  One of the techniques that she suggested was to use our crockpots or slow-cookers more, since these are more energy-efficient than using the oven or the cooktops. They “also consume less electricity than an incandescent light bulb”.

All done - ready to be served.

So, I brought the crockpot out…

This recipe also appealed to me since it sounds fairly simple. However, I am somewhat intimidated with slicing squash (of any type), so I decided to just get pre-packaged diced butternut squash. It is widely available and cheaper this time of the year.

Again, in the interest of not violating any copyright laws, I am not publishing the recipe. All I can say is that it contains maple syrup, some butter, salt, and not too much water. I really enjoy this recipe: I would combine it with some grains (barley or quinoa is my favorite) and some protein (vegetarian or not) to make it a complete meal. I love preparing this for Meatless Mondays (as seen in the first photo).

Or add some greens like kale

She also did suggest to experiment with flavors. I once combined it with yams and parsnip, but the maple flavor did not come through as much. I am thinking of changing up the spices, using chile, just garlic and butter, or even bacon next time.

I may even make the squash and green bean recipe that I enjoyed in my childhood…. but in a crockpot.

We’ll see.